Food52 Review: Although I was unable to hunt down a South Asian mango, its Mexican cousin made a delightful drink. I used two firm, green mangos that boiled down soft and slightly sour. Preparation was simple and quick! Nykavi’s Mango Lemonade is subtly sweet nectar, speckled and perfumed with the honey and hay-like notes of saffron. —gabrielaskitchen

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Serves 4

2
green-skinned mangoes

4
cups cold water

1/2
cup sugar

1
pinch saffron, crumbled

2
tablespoons lemon juice

1/4
teaspoon kosher salt

Wash the mangoes well. In a large pot, add mangoes and cover with water. Heat on a medium flame for 20 minutes .

Take the mangoes out of the hot water and let them cool down. When cool , squeeze gently to soften the pulp. Tear open the skin to extract all the pulp. Squeeze the seed/pit too in order to get as much of the pulp out as possible.

Put all the extracted in a blender with 1 cup of water. Blend for 1 minute, then pour into a large pitcher. Add remaining 3 cups of water, sugar, crumbled saffron, and lemon juice. Add salt. Mix well and chill.

I made this in the morning and left it to chill in the fridge. We had it after dinner (with the vodka) and it was wonderful. I've never used green mangoes before. I always thought it wasn't safe to eat unripened ones. From now on I'll pick them up whenever they're on sale! Thanks!!

No reason why you couldn't make it with frozen mango, but I doubt you'll get the same result. Since the recipe specifies green mangoes, the fruit is going to be unripe and therefore somewhat tart. Frozen mangoes are fully ripe and very sweet. If that's all you have, use less sugar in the recipe to balance the sugar in the mangoes.

Paula...you could definitely make it with frozen mango, which is ripe. To get the authentic flavor use unripe green mangoes. I know they aren't available in most areas, but if you could source them, you will be rewarded with a unique juice.